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Sunday, 22 June 2014

2014 so far...

The atelier has been under devlopment throughout the year. It didn't quite look as tidy as this when I left it... it has been well used for sure.

at the start of the year there was a lot of beads, and pattern making.

and beads on wire too...

but without a shadow of a doubt it has been the Together Paintings that have been central to the atelier this term.

They started off in black and white - and with just two children at a time... and it slowly built up

feather painting... one of the ways to try and encourage all groups in the atelier and not just the children I usually work with...

As part of the Together on the Square project - we started off with maps... drawing maps with parents at home, then building them with blocks and then following the map to the children's front doors. This was a much appreciated part of the project. the children LOVED sharing their homes with each other (or at least the front door) - and it really did give them a good base in how to design and build their own ideas...

Valentine's Day was not celebrated with just pink and hearts... but by asking the children what they thought love was, how it is represented and what is friendship.

there has been various kinds of claywork in the atelier... from just experiemnting to creating their own works of art inspired by local art...

the together paitings got colourful, and hands on... and children from all groups started to participate.

the snail park continued to be a place of discovery... always something to find, even when the ground was hard... stones could be used to create art...

art has been used as a way to practice listening skills... not just as an expression of creativity. Art has also been a way to learn more about different cultures... here we were learning about Russia.

construction... the magnetic tiles have been a firm favourite with all the children

and if the children start blwoing bubbles in the lunch milk... then there was time to blow bubbles freely at an appropriate time... that allowed for fun... AND allowed for the children to eat their lunch...

the atelier has been a place of experiments... of trying out new techniques... and teacher and child not always being sure if they are going to work...

Together paintings got upcycled - and friendship was drawn. Togetherness

and after lots of colourful Together paintings we returned to black and white again

Sleeping Beauty became an interest... and lots of castles/palaces were being drawn... but what IS a castle/palace? We looked at lots of images from around the world... we even visited the Royal Palace in the Old Town - and asked a guard if Sleeping Beauty lived there...

the children have worked TOGETHER to solve all sorts of problems - of how to use play equipment without adult help...

We have particiapted in the photo project "Though the Eyes of the Child" which allowed the children to become familiar with using a camera... and to think about what is important to them, and why.

the clay art got finished after several months of playing and experimenting with the medium first.

winter was short and not at all as we had expected... we had the odd cold week, and the odd day of snow... but on the whole it was far too mild to do the ice sculpture part of the Together on the Square project... but I guess that is there for another year...

the library got a make-over... and over summer the wall is going to be knocked down and the room will be made bigger and turned into a library/philosophy room.... this will be my area of the preschool to develop in the first few months (although I have to admit I am a little sad to leave the atelier... the idea of a new challenge sounds fun too)

by listening to the children, and messing about with picmonkey... I created a dream square for the children...

it caused great excitement, but they wanted to refine their ideas...

we had a visit from Clown Manne - and we learned circus tricks... which we took out onto the square and performed for passers by...

adding lights to the tiles allowed the play to change... Its so much fun to add new things every once in a while... and just have them out for a short time, to influence the children's play...

we had a Pyjama Party... in response to the children trying to exclude others by saying the classic "you can't come to my party then" - so we INCLUDED everyone with a party at preschool!

art inspired by the art in the Square

a different kind of Together painting - rolling eggs in paint on a tay in pairs... this requires the children to listen to each other with eyes and ears and their bodies...

this was the image created from listening to the parents and the children interviewing the pensioners at the sheltered housing next door...

A together painting OUT on the square...

messing about with paper...

exploration of wind and balloons together... how can we make everyone feel included... especially when it is so exciting?

Journey to Toronto, Canada... to share what I have been learning at my work at Filosofiska - and also to learn from others... and a wonderful stay with my inspiring host Diane Kashin. Many many thanks to her

of course the Snail Park would not be complete without at least one photo of the snails...

Filosofiska was part of the "Good Example Fair" - where we shared our way of working with children with others...

National Preschool day... lots of hands on activities outdoors in the square... linking to the projects we have been doing all term...

clay to play with... and since there was water for water painting, lots ended up on the clay... it was VERY wet and gooey!

time to just appreciate nature

understanding perspective... that we can all look at the same thing but see something different... and how do we know it has four legs when we can only see two of them?

the children became curious about death

so we introduced the dinosaurs... popular with a few of the children... and lots of ideas about death, life, and shadows, and other worldliness were talked about

plenty of time to play some of these ideas the children were talking about

building and lights... there is something magical about light and shadow

and the dinosaurs really got the children interested in exploring more and more about light and shadow...

something we used as part of practising to listen with eyes...

on my facebook page I started a Sunday quote... each week sharing something wise... hoepfully you will find them to be that too...